


toothpaste kisses

by sundazed



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, luren, renjun is drunk, yukhei tries not to lose a limb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 13:00:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20675780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sundazed/pseuds/sundazed
Summary: There are many things Renjun can do with his eyes closed—making Yukhei fall deeper in love with him is one of them.





	toothpaste kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [antidons (Pogniscrow)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pogniscrow/gifts).

> happy birthday, drea!!! doctors say a dose of luren fluff makes any day brighter, so here's my attempt at giving you an overdose. jk. but really, thank you for pulling me into this ship, #1 enabler. I hope this makes you (and everyone else who reads this!!!!) smile.
> 
> (inspired by the maccabees' song of the same name <3)

Yukhei is one flight of stairs away from victory.

_ Ten more steps till sleep,_ Yukhei cheers in his mind. He adjusts his grip around Renjun’s waist and takes one final breath before taking the first step. It should be easy; his boyfriend is half his size and Yukhei could carry him on his shoulder without breaking a sweat (tried and tested). But Renjun doesn’t like being hauled around like that and Yukhei knows he _ will _ get kicked into another dimension if he tries again (also tried and tested).

So Yukhei has stuck to keeping Renjun close all night, but still letting him try to stubbornly walk on his own because _ he's not drunk, he can get home fine! _ and supporting him with one arm because he obviously _ is _ and _ cannot_. 

Each step up the stairs to Renjun’s apartment (which is inconveniently on the third floor) is accompanied by Yukhei’s bated breaths and Renjun’s incessant whining about how _ he should go back, he can’t lose to Donghyuck. _

By the fourth step (_six more steps to go!_), Yukhei pauses and laughs despite himself. “You won, babe. He passed out long before you did, don’t you remember?”

Eyebrows knit in confusion, Renjun whips his head to his direction instantly, and Yukhei braces himself just in case Renjun has sobered down enough to catch on his white lie (because it was actually a draw). 

Their little drinking game at Renjun’s promotion’s celebration tonight went a little out of hand with Renjun and Donghyuck ending up talking like Jabba the Hutt after ten poorly-paced, rapidly-downed shots of tequila. From the little bits everyone caught from their barely decipherable conversation, they pieced together that they were in a heated discussion about the history of origami, a topic the both of them had never shown any particular interest in before, but apparently, have extensive knowledge in. Granted, no one else in their little party circle knew anything about the origins of the art of paper folding as well, so they couldn’t verify if there was any truth to what they were saying. 

But Yukhei strongly believes Renjun won that match. He’s amazing like that. 

Once the alcohol had completely made its way down, it somehow transformed into a competition of who can kiss their respective boyfriends more. Mark, who was already walking and talking funny after his second bottle of beer, enthusiastically (and uncharacteristically) accepted Donghyuck’s advances despite his known allergy to PDA, and Yukhei still feels tingles on his skin where Renjun had peppered him with chaste kisses (read: everywhere). 

Yukhei believes that _ he _ won that one. 

(Though in hindsight, considering the struggle he’s in now, maybe Yukhei should’ve taken away a shot or two from Renjun.)

Luckily, Renjun doesn’t contest him and nods once confidently, “Knew it. Weakling.” 

Satisfied with his _ pseudo- _win, Renjun relaxes in Yukhei’s hold and completely sinks into his side. On the penultimate step, Renjun pokes Yukhei’s arm. “Not you, though, Mr. Biceps. You’re strooooong.” Renjun drags the last syllable, clutching Yukhei’s arm and effectively causing Yukhei to let out a flurry of giggles. 

“You _ are _ drunk,” Yukhei points out the obvious because sober Renjun wouldn’t openly admit that. Doyoung, Renjun’s brother, says it’s his favorite self-defense tactic—pretending to resent something because he knows fully accepting it could lead to him liking it too much for his own good. 

(Which is also partially why it took them two years of orbiting and sizing up each other before finally discovering they just really wanted to make out with each other.)

“Eyyy, I’m not.” Renjun wriggles away from Yukhei’s hold. “Look, I’ll—“ Renjun stumbles to the door, “I’ll punch us in, ‘mkay? Wait, why—why won’t it—_hey_! Let us in, stupid door—”

Still trying to recover from the five-thousand step walk-up, Yukhei realizes too late that Renjun’s aggressively and unforgivingly punching numbers on the wrong door. “Oh, no, no, babe—that’s—” Yukhei sputters as adrenaline swarms his veins. He hooks his arms under Renjun’s armpits and drags him away before Renjun’s terrifying (well, to Yukhei) next-door neighbor realizes what’s happening. 

Yukhei takes the liberty of inputting Renjun’s door code: 0125 (his birthday, so that Yukhei doesn’t forget) and apologetically manhandles a protesting Renjun to cross the threshold. 

“Sorry, it’s just that Kun scares the shi—” begins Yukhei as the door clicks close behind them, but he never gets to finish because Renjun has somehow fallen asleep in his arms. “You’re a handful,” Yukhei whispers as he carries Renjun bridal style to his room, navigating the dark apartment that he didn’t even realize he has come to memorize. “But you keep my heart full.” Yukhei chuckles, knowing that had Renjun been awake to hear that, he would’ve been ostracized from his apartment for the rest of the week. Heck, maybe even for the rest of his life. 

He finally reaches the door to Renjun’s room, careful not to hit Renjun’s head on the frame, and the gentle thud of Renjun landing on the bed announces the end of Yukhei’s penance. _ Phew. _

Once he’s taken off Renjun’s shoes, Yukhei pads out of the bedroom to grab a glass of water and search the cupboards for aspirin. He quickly splashes his face but skips brushing his teeth, even though the toothbrush he bought for unplanned sleepovers like this is staring right at him._ Sorry, Dr. Kwon. _

When he returns, he takes out and pulls on one of his shirts that he’d either intentionally left or plainly forgotten (Yukhei can’t remember which) in Renjun’s closet. He pauses and thinks about changing Renjun’s clothes as well (heat creeps up his face at the thought), but quickly decides against it in so as not to disrupt his boyfriend’s peaceful slumber. Yukhei is about to slide into Renjun’s bed, which barely fits both of them but is perfect for their snuggly asses, when Yukhei is struck by the majesty that is the image of Renjun sleeping. 

There are many things Renjun can do with his eyes closed—making Yukhei fall deeper in love with him is one of them.

The golden light (which he’d forgotten to turn off) from the hall spills into the room and frames Renjun’s face in a way that turns Yukhei’s heart into a gymnast in his chest — spinning, leaping, twirling, then finishing off with a clumsy cartwheel. Yukhei obviously does not know shit about gymnastics, but oh, _ boy._

As he watches the steady rise and fall of Renjun’s chest, a rush of serenity washes over Yukhei as well—the certain calmness that radiates _ only _ from Renjun. Yukhei finally sinks into the other side of the bed (really, the tiny space that Renjun’s limbs aren’t sprawled on), and whispers a little thanks to the heavens for finally giving his sweet dumpling some peace after weeks of being on his toes and feeling all sorts of anxious because of his latest project and the possibility of a promotion. 

Had Renjun not gotten the promotion, Yukhei would have stormed into his boss’s office and given him a piece of his mind. Specifically, the piece—which can actually morph into a very huge, very overwhelming chunk of feelings—that thinks Renjun is the personification of everything divine and passion and fire, and that he’d be making a monumental mistake if he didn’t give Renjun the recognition he deserves. And then if the boss tries to argue, he’d begin his poetic litany on the sublime splendor of having _ the _ Huang Renjun work his magic under his undeserving, unappreciative wing. And if that _ still _ didn’t work, Yukhei would be left with no choice but to put his guns (his _ biceps _ ; he doesn’t own any firearms) (though he does have Renjun-approved _ fire _ arms, _ ka-chow)_ to use. 

But, as expected, Renjun crushed it and received the good news earlier this week—which means his boss isn’t the idiot Yukhei pictured in the many scenarios in his head (Yukhei has actually met him and they bonded over their shared sentiment that they both struck gold with Renjun), and that Yukhei doesn’t have to march into his office. This is a big relief for Yukhei because he’s not a big fan of confrontation, he can’t hurt a fly even if it threatened to give him malaria, and he’d probably just end up sounding like a blithering idiot if he tried to put into words how Renjun’s very existence shakes him to the core. 

Kind of like what’s happening right now. 

Yukhei smiles to himself, overcome by an extreme desire to squeeze the bejeezus out of his sleeping boyfriend. He doesn’t know how long he just lies there staring at Renjun, but the tranquility he gains is enough to sustain him for a year. 

Then here’s a tiny whispery voice inside of Yukhei’s head that says he’s being Edward Cullen-level creepy for watching Renjun sleep. Another voice in a register much lower and clearer than the first follows: _ never ever reference Twilight in front of anybody. Ever_.

_ Dutifully noted_, Yukhei replies with a definitive nod before he could even realize what he’s doing. Perhaps he got drunk from Renjun’s alcohol sweat (Is that possible?) or he just spends too much time in his head. Maybe it’s both. 

And as if on cue, Renjun shifts, and Yukhei tries to be as still as possible. Settling his head under Yukhei’s armpit, Renjun swings an arm and a leg over Yukhei’s chest territorially. 

_ You’re my favorite pillow, _ Yukhei can almost hear Renjun say. Feeling the weight of the day settle in his bones, Yukhei rubs circles on Renjun’s back and slowly surrenders to sleep. He feels Renjun melt into his touch and inch closer—as if it were still possible—to him. The clinginess makes Yukhei incredibly soft again, and he smiles as his eyes flutter close. Renjun just never gives Yukhei a break, huh. _ Jerk. _

Renjun yanks at his shirt suddenly, and a shell-shocked Yukhei clasps a hand over his mouth, simultaneously terrified and mindblown that Renjun might’ve supernaturally heard his thoughts. _ I’m sorry, babe, you’re not a jerk. No, no- _

“My head hurts,” Renjun mumbles, eyes sealed and brows furrowed. “Make it not hurt.”

Yukhei moves to reach for the aspirin and water on the nightstand, but Renjun pulls his arm back. “No, no. Kiss it”—a little burp—”kiss it better,” Renjun pouts, and hot _ damn, _all of Yukhei’s sensory and motor skills choose now to fail him. Sure, Renjun has his sickeningly sweet sober moments, but not like this. Never has Renjun displayed this level of cheesiness until tonight. And Yukhei doesn’t know how to react; whether to indulge him, or pull out his phone to capture the moment that comes rarer than a blue moon. 

_ Indulge,_ he finally decides, trying his best not to dwell on the heat spreading across his neck. _ Then make sure to never stop teasing him about it till the end of time. _

“C’mere, you,” Yukhei cups Renjun’s cheeks and dips his head, but Renjun springs up, though still a little groggy. 

“W-wait!” Renjun dramatically clasps a hand over his mouth. “I need to brush my teeth.”

Renjun’s voice comes out muffled and small, and Yukhei, absolutely endeared, laughs and pulls Renjun back down. “I don’t mind, and I wasn’t going to kiss you on the—”

“See,” Renjun staggers off the bed and makes a beeline for the door. “If you didn’t mind, then you’d k-kiss me on the lips. You l-like kissing me on the lips.”

Yukhei leaps out of the bed and gently tugs at Renjun’s arm, because_ he really doesn’t mind. _Even when he smells like a wonky combination of grilled meat, sweat, and his favorite fabric conditioner (honeysuckle?), Yukhei honestly can’t help but feel a little more drawn to him. Perhaps love is also anosmic. “Come on, come back. You smell fine. Like an avenue of cherry blossoms in the spring.”

He saw him puke three times tonight (Renjun apologized profusely to all of his lamp post victims) and he’d still let Renjun steal all the kisses he wants. Renjun’s kisses are filled with MSG, and Yukhei is helplessly addicted. 

“Liar,” Renjun shoots back, a little giggly. Yukhei thinks that’s the end of it, but Renjun has gained back some of his strength and drags Yukhei with him to the bathroom. 

In his shining hours, Renjun is easier to love. He is, after all, the second (the first is his mom) most hardworking and effortlessly alluring (inside and out) person Yukhei knows. But it’s in these 2 AM moments that Yukhei fully gets a grasp of the kind of love he wants. _ This _ is the kind of love he wants. The kind that has him standing half-awake in front of the bathroom sink fit for one—knocking elbows, neglecting personal space, and drunkenly making brunch plans (“The plan is to sleep in,” Renjun announced.) for the next morning. 

And he wants no other person to experience it with than this drunk crazy person who yanked him out of bed and forced him to brush his teeth with him. Two months into their relationship and Yukhei can say with utmost confidence that there isn’t a single uninteresting cell in Renjun’s body. Here his boyfriend stood—tipsy and absolutely breathtaking. 

“Babe,” Yukhei says through too much toothpaste foam (“Pea-sized, please!” he hears Dr. Kwon reprimand him), “Let me—can shou pshlease mov—” 

Renjun plants a kiss—wet and foamy and _ minty— _ on Yukhei’s cheek before continuing to monopolize the sink. Raising a single finger at Yukhei, _ wait _ , Renjun spits out the foam and wipes his mouth. _ You didn’t miss. Impressive, _ Yukhei wants to say, but his mouth is full of foam and his cheek is wet and Renjun still hasn’t moved and Yukhei thinks he’s just pretending to still be drunk and teasing him at this point.

Yukhei’s speculations turn out to be wrong, though, because when he’s done, Renjun slumps onto the, thankfully, closed toilet lid. “G’night,” says Renjun before clocking out then and there. Yukhei is forced to move efficiently: keeping Renjun’s head raised with one hand, spitting out the foam and hastily rinsing his toothbrush with the other. Once he’s done, Yukhei tries to shake Renjun awake. When Renjun doesn’t budge and Yukhei realizes his energy has spiked up again, he decides he might as well do Renjun’s skincare routine for him. 

“Hey, tummy,” Renjun almost gives Yukhei a heart attack and pokes Yukhei’s stomach mid-moisturizing. “How are you feelin’?”

Yukhei shakes his head and continues to gently dab at his boyfriend’s face. He answers with a goofy voice to match the goofy question, “Feeling a whole lot better, sir.” 

“Good. Stop giving my Yukhei a hard time, ‘kay?” Accusing finger wagging at Yukhei’s middle, Renjun frowns. Yukhei doesn’t know if it’s the acid reflux (the reason why he stayed sober the entire night and why Renjun heroically intercepted all the drinks offered to him) or just butterflies in his stomach, but he feels all sorts of feelings at the sound of Renjun saying _my _Yukhei.

“Copy that.”

“Thank you.” Renjun smiles through half-lidded eyes just as Yukhei wraps up. Yukhei knows it’s directed at his face now. “For the molar support.”

Yukhei chuckles at the silly mispronunciation and makes a mental note to fill (pun intended) him in on what he missed when he finally sobers up in the morning. For now, he gives him a quick kiss, square on his minty fresh lips, and takes Renjun’s hand. “Let’s get you back to bed.”

The saucy smile that spreads across Renjun’s face is alarming. “Bed?”

“Sleep, Renjun.” Yukhei pinches Renjun’s soft, dewy cheek. “Let’s get you some sleep.”

**Author's Note:**

> labyu drea
> 
> I miss luren ;-;


End file.
